(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a filling device for use in a bottling machine. More particularly, the invention relates to a filling device which is able to fill a bottle with a predetermined quantity of liquid product.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional bottle filling machine, it is well known that the opening of a bottle to be filled is closed by a sealing member and, under such a state, a filling liquid is fed into the bottle from a filling tube and at the same time, the air in the bottle is discharged through an exhaust tube. In a filling machine of this type, when the surface of the liquid that is supplied into the bottle reaches the lower end of the exhaust tube, the liquid is allowed to enter into the exhaust tube after that, and the filling operation is automatically stopped when the liquid surface level in the exhaust tube coincides with the surface level of the liquid in a reservoir tank. Further, the closing of the bottle with the sealing member is then released by closing the filling tube and the liquid in the exhaust tube is fed into the above bottle, thereby accomplishing the filling of a constant quantity of the liquid.
However, in the above-described filling system, since the filling liquid is introduced into the exhaust tube until the surface level thereof reaches the surface level of the liquid in the tank, the liquid surface in the tank must be maintained at a fixed level. Therefore, the filling takes a long time and some device to maintain the liquid surface level constant is required.